Saturday, May 30, 2015

Summers End - Part Two

Alas, the time has come.
One chapter is coming to an end and a new chapter will begin.

Change is hard and as we
write this we remind ourselves that when we started this blog over 5 years ago-
yes it has been five years- we were facing the end of one chapter and the
beginning of another.

Looking back we remember
how difficult it was saying goodbye to all our family and friends, packing up
our home, and moving across the planet. Of course it was also exciting. Going
to a new country with lots of unknown ahead. When we left we thought it would
only be for a couple of years. Little did we know how
much we would love New Zealand, what amazing friendships we would make, and how
utterly entrenched in a life here we would become.

We did not know it was
possible, but we honestly have two homes now. New Zealand will always be a
place we travel back to. To visit and to see friends. We may even return again
in the future; we can. We now have Permanent Residency status. We will have
to renew our drivers licenses in 2020, -lol. But it is time that we head back to
the States. Time to reconnect with our family and friends there. Our parents
are not getting any younger, and we wish to be closer to them at this point.

Our return plans are still
being sorted, but we are looking to be back the end of June. At this stage, we do not
yet know where we will be settling back in. We don't have jobs lined up and
that will eventually determine the where. We will start with landing in San
Diego for a bit and start the search from there. Perhaps a job offer will come
between now and then and we will adjust the plan. There are a few irons in the
fire, but nothing for certain.

We have Myztyc our kitty to
transport along with some of our belongings. We will be selling a lot of our
furniture and our 220v electronics (as they are useless in the states) and
starting fresh. We are looking forward to that.

We are expecting this to
be a bit of a shock to the system. Similar to learning to drive on the other
side of the road and understanding the kiwi accent. It takes some time...

While we have continued to
visit the U.S. over the last 5 years, visiting and living are very different.
Eric and I have shared a single car for the last 5 years. We will now
need to get 2 cars upon returning. And we have no idea what the current
rate is to insure two cars and drivers, but I bet it's not $350.00 NZD per
year. We will have to sort out medical insurance - certainly not looking
forward to that.

So we find ourselves
thinking about all the differences, all the things that we will miss about New
Zealand. And we try to think about the things we will look forward to. Yes
there are those too.

Neither place is perfect,
they both have great aspects and both have their faults. We are often asked in
our travels what they are. Some are small, little things; others are larger
more significant things.

Here is a partial list-
And I am sure we have left some things out.

We do not need pennies and
nickels -they are useless

We can drive and parallel
park (mostly) on the other side of the road

Traffic circles are better
than four way stops

Meat pies are okay
sometimes

Cicadas are cool, we love
the sound

Bird songs are unique and cool

I wish I had a kiwi accent

Less is sometimes more

220 power is great when
you want hot water/ electric kettle instead of

stove top teapot

Insulation is better when
not just a concept

The Metric System is MUCH
better and can be learned - eventually

Whitakers Chocolate is
sooo good

High fructose corn syrup
is evil

Reasonable Portion sizes

Eggs are brown and don't
need to be refrigerated

Quality of life isn’t
about things

Healthy priorities

The U.S. has a sense of
entitlement, and decadence that can be embarrassing

Too materialistic

Too much time is spent
sitting in traffic

We will look forward to:

Central heating and air

Double pane windows

Screens on the windows

Books! And
the Overall cost of goods being much less expensive

Hummingbirds

And if course some our
favorite foods-

In-n-Out Burger - burgers
in general

Mexican food

Frozen yogurt

But if you ever get the
opportunity to travel and live someplace outside of the U.S. for a period of
time. We highly recommend it. It gives you an amazing perspective, and will
change your world-view and highlight all the various things you take for
granted. You’ll notice things you never noticed before, and learn things about
yourself you might not otherwise learn.

For our last few weeks we
intend to soak in as much of Wellington, New Zealand as we can.

The zepherometer has been
repaired and reinstalled -a favorite local icon.

One last dessert (for now)
feast at Strawberry Fare

A walk along the coast

Hot chocolate at
Scortch-o-rama

We will spend as much time
as we can with our remarkable friends and make plans to Skype them regularly
although it won't be the same.

And we will be bringing
back with us a little reminder of our amazing 5 year adventure - we have each
gotten a tattoo designed that is our memento. Yes I- Ms. needle phobic,
braved it. Yes it hurt!

But I love it and am glad
I did it. It is on my ankle and the tail wraps around it, and of course it is a dragon but in a style more traditional of New Zealand. (photo taken just after a few days so it is still slightly red)

Eric's is more Middle-earth/Tolkien
focused and incorporates both Dwarven and Elvish writing. Thank you to Daniel Reeve for his beautiful caligraphy work. It says "There and back again a Middle-earth adventure. The road goes ever on. And thank you to the talented artists at Sinatra Tattoo - Nathan and Damian.

So what will become of
this blog? Not sure. Might continue it for a few months back in the states to
be able to end it with where we land…or not. Might try to transfer it into a
photo book to keep as a journal of our last 5 years.

We hope that those of you
that have been following along have enjoyed it. We have loved the
adventure!

We are looking forward to
the future, to our next new adventure wherever it may take us.